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Essie Gel Setter Top Coat And Lovie Dovie Polish

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Hello Lovelies,

I think it's safe to say I have a bit lot of a problem when it comes to buying nail polish and products, I am a nail polish addict and am drawn to nail polish and products especially certain brands, and one of those brands is Essie and recently I spotted the new Essie Gel Setter Top Coat and could not resist it, I love gel nails and used to have gel manicures on a regular basis but found my nails were suffering as a result so stopped having them around 18 months ago.

So many brands have released their take on gel nail polishes or gel top coats and I think I have tried almost all of them but so far nothing has wowed me or given me that "gel manicure" look but since Essie has been a brand favourite of mine for years I had high hopes for it, Essie are one of my favourite nail polish brands and I have been purchasing their polishes for many years, they apply well and are free from DBD, Toluene and Formaldehyde which is something I look for in a nail polish and I often get asked why I prefer polishes free from those things and why it is important, I am considering writing a post all about it so if you'd like that post please let me know.

The Essie Gel Setter contains 13.5ml of product and is £9.99 which some might say is expensive but my HG topcoat is the Orly Glosser which is around £13.00 for 18ml and although the Orly isn't a gel top coat I do love the shine it gives and lasting power it provides to the polishes I wear, I don't mind paying more for a product if it is a good product and I really wanted the Essie Gel Setter to be a good product, at the time I bought it Boots had an offer where you could purchase the top coat plus any Essie polish for £15.00 so I took advantage of the offer and bought an Essie polish in Lovie Dovie too.

Lovie Dovie is a lovely blue toned pink, described by Essie as a "Flamingo Pink" normally I stay away from blue toned polishes as I have very blue nails due to some medication I take having an effect on my respiratory system but it is such a pretty colour I thought I'd give it a try since it was on offer. I originally bought the Gel Setter to use as part of my "holiday nails" (post on those coming soon) usually I have a manicure and pedicure before my holidays and I would usually choose to have a gel manicure so they would last me for at least one week of my holidays if not the whole holiday but this year I wanted to try and save some money and thought I'd have a "DIY gel manicure" I couldn't wait to try out the Gel Setter and Lovie Dovie and thought I'd give the Gel Setter a trial run before my holiday nails were done and I also wanted to see if the Lovie Dovie would suit me.

Essie Claims that the Gel Setter top coat will give a "rock hard shine of a gel in a fool proof formula for at home mani and pedi's" I love gel manicures, I love the shine they give and the long lasting formula and since Essie is a brand I've used and loved for years I really wanted the Gel Setter to be everything it claimed it would. I applied 3 coats of the Lovie Dovie allowing each coat to dry fully in between and then applied 1 coat of the Gel Setter over the top.

I was so impressed by the amazing shine the Gel Setter gave me and hoped that my nails would also remain chip free, and they did! I wore the Lovie Dovie polish for 7 days before removing it to have my nails re painted for my holidays, that is the only reason I removed the polish my nails hadn't chipped at all and still had an amazing shine the only reason I removed the Lovie Dovie polish because I was going on my holidays and wanted to change the polish, I was so impressed with the Gel Setter my nails looked super shiny and stayed super shiny for the duration I wore the polish they didn't lack shine or fade they looked lovely and so many people asked me if I'd had gel nails in preparation for my holidays.

I would highly recommend the Gel Setter top coat it is the first top coat I have tried that does actually give a gel manicure look, I have used it over other polishes too not just Essie and they look like gel too, I am super impressed and will definitely be re purchasing another one and can see this taking over the Orly Glosser as my new HG top coat and that is something I NEVER thought I would say but I love it, I love the shine it gives, the wear time of the polish and the fact that it does actually look like I've had a gel manicure.

If you would like to try the Essie Gel Setter top coat you can find it on the Boots website where it is £9.99 and currently buy one and get the second half price on selected Essie products which is a great offer especially if like me you love Essie.

Have you tried the Gel Setter top coat? Do you like gel manicures? And have you tried any of the high street gel top coats or polishes?